This is going to be a very lengthy multi-part epsiode where i share my learnings of getting acquainted with what is now called VCF Automation, formerly known as vRealize Automation, Aria Automation, etc.
Index
Part 1 will go through the introduction, requirements, and objectives.
Part 2 will go through the basics of VCF Automation, whats already been done for you.
Part 3 will go through the housekeeping and groundwork.
Part 4 will go though creating a Ubuntu Template
Part 5 will go through creating a Windows Template
Part 6 will go through adding Microsoft AD XaaS such as Create/Delete User/Group.
Part 7 will go through adding NSX Distributed Firewall at larger scale (Microsegmentation).
Part 8 will go through adding NSX Distributed Firewall to the automation Template for internal application security (Microsegmentation).
Part 9 will go through using the DBaaS feature of VCF. (DSM)
Part 10 will go through more advanced Templates using all the above.
Part 11 will go through constraints
Now, why am i doing this? To fill a gap. A large amount of the customers i help today are in their transition from a traditional datacenter, to a true software defined datacenter in the form of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). This add’s a lot of components and tools that people have so far been unfamiliar with.
Some of these, like VCF Operations and VCF Operations for Logs come quite “curated” and filled with already consumable things, while VCF Automation is an empty canvas that needs you to assemble blueprints to produce a value. Some of these consumables will end up being very bespoke to you, and your organisation. But some of these are likely to be very generic, and similar ot others requirements. These are the blueprints that i intend to walk you through here, and hopefully when you’ve created these blueprints you will feel at home in the software to then tackle your bespoke needs.
I’d also like to add that i am now way a VCF Automation expert. A few weeks ago i was in your shoes with little to no knowledge about VCF Automation, having to learn the basics. ( I had roughly 10 hours of hands-on previous experience with our Automation products).
What are the pre requirements?
I will assume (assumptions.. the mother of all f*** ups..) that you have:
- VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 or later deployed in your environment, with one Management Domain, and one Workload domain (minimum required hardware for this would be 7 servers).
In this tutorial i will be using more servers than this to showcase the capabilities of allowing VCF Automation to place workloads in different locations using constraints. This doesn’t mean you require the additional hosts. - Installed the following VMware Validated Solutions. This is preferrably done through the PowerShell automation PowerValidatedSolutions.
VMware Cloud Foundation, with a workload domain will give you the capabilties to expose Compute, Storage, Network and Security via APIs. (The definition of an SDDC)
The Validated Solutions will ensure that you have a best practice deployment of consumption and operational layers that go ontop of the platform. Please note that the Validated Solutions are not just installation guidance, it’s a end-to-end enterprise design for how to deploy these solutions with with scalability, usability, and integration in mind.
The end result is that you have these capabilities ready-to-consume and also integrated with each other!
Objectives
At the end of this tutorial i will have:
- Shown you the basics of how VCF Automation abstracts underlaying resources, to allow for a very dynamic way of consuming resources and functions.
- How to create a really good base image for the Linux distribution Ubuntu
- How to create a really good base image for Microsoft Windows Server
- How to expose Microsoft Active Directory workflows
- How to create ABX (Action Based eXtensibility) actions to do useful stuff
Every day is a learning day 